


Orange On His Clothes

by ShahHira



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Angst, Cats, Crack, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Too much fluff, mostly silly indulgence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-06-01
Packaged: 2018-07-10 09:38:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6978094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShahHira/pseuds/ShahHira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Millicent starts to misbehave. Hux blames it on Kylo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Codeword: Problem

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing for the Star Wars universe and it had to start with a cat fic.
> 
> So ever since Millicent was introduced I've had this idea but I didn't refine it until I got out of college for the summer and read Give Me a Shot to Remember by decotex 5,000 times, which goes without saying that this is this fic's inspiration. I swear it was originally supposed to be pure fluff but there is some angst in the beginning here, but hopefully in the later chapters there will be more entertainment, I promise, I swear it's crack.
> 
> I love cats, in case you couldn’t tell.

“Sir, there seems to be a… problem.”

Codeword: Problem. Hux turns sharply to the Ensign on his left. He looks paler than any human should be able to against the inky dark of the _Finalizer’s_ Bridge.

Unfortunately, Hux already knows why.

“Where is he?” he commands without preamble.

“C-cargo bay 24,” the Ensign stutters. Must be a new recruit. He’ll be hauled out to reconditioning later. “The empty one, sir. Lord Ren has been in there for quite some time–”

“Thank you, Ensign. Lieutenant, you have the Bridge,” the General barks out the order before stalking off the Bridge, ignoring what is most likely the knowing looks that the crew gives behind his back. But Hux has only one mission on his mind.

He would put a stop to the menace that is Kylo Ren, once and for all.

With each step, Hux grows more annoyed. As if the three incidents this past week weren’t enough, the man deemed himself fit to graduate from rendering computer consoles useless to actively delaying ship procedures. Wrecking a whole cargo bay. He scoffs. There was a reason it was empty. Now, today’s resupply would have to be pushed back one full day before getting back on schedule. Not to mention the mounds of paperwork waiting for him…

Hux grinds his teeth. Problem. He was having a good day until he heard that word.

His thoughts do not slow down even as he stands in front of the dull durasteel door, innocently shielding what most probably housed the most profound destruction Hux was not at all willing to excuse, but had to anyway.

Clearly, something has to be done.

It isn’t so much a smell as it is a blast of scorched metal tang that hits him as he walks into the lofty cargo bay, assaulting his nostrils and threatening to burn his clothes right from his body. The General maintains a steady air, hands clasped behind his back, looking for all the world as if he were taking a stroll through the hallways and not through an artist’s representation of hell. The walls glow an ugly red, mixed with dull gray chunks of metal, countless red lines slashed across the warped surface. There are many similar concentrated points of action on all four walls. Hux pans his gaze, his expression showing nothing. He stops on the small black figure sitting on the floor.

“Had enough, Ren?” Hux says coldly. “Don’t stop on my account.”

There is a long pause. Slowly, Ren looks over his shoulder. That helmet of his almost makes it look robotic.

“The _Finalizer_ has to hold orbit for one whole cycle while I get this cargo bay restored and that is time wasted, thanks to you,” Hux informs him unkindly as he approaches the Knight, footsteps ringing hollowly in the dead quiet. The temper that he covers up so well in front of his men starts to bubble up, as it’s maddeningly wont to do with Ren. It only serves to make him angrier.

Ren stands. The cowl isn’t draped over his helmet like it normally is, and Hux can see why Ren thinks it makes him look more intimidating. In fact, it makes him look laughably small, almost, but it’s not just that. It might be because of its absence, but Hux can feel a certain passivity radiating from Ren, a cool stillness that he’d never associate otherwise with the man he clashes with on a daily basis.

“I am done here.” And though his voice sounds exactly as it does through the vocoder, Hux has learned how to interpret the man’s moods through subtle shifts in the distorted speech, few and unvaried as they were. Ranging from sulking to downright furious, it was easy to guess how Ren was feeling. This isn’t any one of those moods.

Hux shakes out of that thought. He has come here on a mission. To stop the menace known as Kylo Ren, right. “It’s in the best interest of the First Order if the ship is not being torn down from the inside out by our so-called allies. The Resistance is already mucking up things, we don’t need you to contribute,” Hux pointedly says. It isn’t the best insurance, but it would serve its purpose.

Ren doesn’t react. The silence drags on, Ren studiously staring at Hux. Hux frowns minutely. Curious. An odd change of routine. Kylo Ren has calmed him down enough to not be a bickering nuisance. Wonderful. He should mark down this memorable day.

(Hux is sure Ren’s presence would be a lot more tolerable if he’d shut up, so it’s not a bad change of routine.)

Then again, he’s forced to admit the silence is something he’s unprepared for. He’s so used to dealing with a loud, rampaging Ren that he almost doesn’t know what to do with himself. Were he not a General of a starship he would even call it an awkward silence.

He had also thought it would be a lot more gratifying to release some pent-up frustrations on a – for once – quiet Ren, but he just feels unsatisfyingly drained. Any pleasure he has quickly evaporates as irritation takes over, remembering the sudden influx of work reminding him that he needed to get back to work soon if he wants the ship to get back on schedule.

In any case it’s not his job to antagonize Ren. He just needs him out of this damned cargo hold so the repair crew can do its job.

“Get out of here, Ren, before you scare the poor saps who have to clean up after you,” Hux says with far less malice than originally planned. He’s somehow even more tired than when he walked in.

Instead of immediately complying – because that would be too much to hope for – Ren nods. It’s the slowest nod Hux has ever seen.

Kylo Ren clenches his gloved hands into fists. Then unclenches them. The movement catches Hux’s eye. Short flecks of orange and white strips pepper his gloves.

Ren snaps his head up, catches him looking. Then he takes his leave.

To reach the esteemed position that Hux has achieved he has had to be cunning, vicious, vigilant, and so much more. Without a sharp sense of constant awareness one simply couldn’t survive in a brutal environment such as his. Weeding out the weak, his old instructors called it.

So why is Hux so damn confused when it comes to Kylo Ren?


	2. Hux Is Not Prepared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone else begins to get on Hux's nerves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's just get this angst out of the way first *sneakily tries to slide your way* 
> 
> Yeah so this fic is dedicated to my marshmallow fluff of a whiny cat Blanca. Cheers
> 
> (And also I forgot in the first chapter, but this fic is dedicated to all the crack writers in the kylux fandom, you guys do amazing things with the canon material you have on hand! Honorable mentions to Anorlost, I unofficially dub them Emperor of Kylux Crack, they are honestly my push to write this fic, your stuff is gold and amuses me to no end!)

Two days and several stacks of menial documents later, the _Finalizer_ departs from the planet’s orbit. Hux can’t even work up the energy to act smug about making good time in spite of Ren’s setback.

At his desk in his quarters, Hux is wrapping up the day’s work and getting a head start on the next. He’s caught himself rubbing at his eyes a little too many times, and he must’ve lost track of time somewhere in between because it’s definitely past his normal bedtime when he glances at the chronometer.

Unwilling as ever to cede to his fatigued body, Hux stretches in his chair, mind inevitably turning to the reason of his headaches: to the one problem he still cannot fix, that consistently occupies his mind long into the nights. There has to be something that lends stock to the only man in his life who can whip the notoriously unflappable General into a seething frenzy and not be maimed at the first sign of insolence into a shredded mess, then drawn, quartered and have his head skewered onto a pike, all done by yours truly. For a short moment Hux indulgences in that mental image, storing it in his memory for future use.

Sometimes, he wishes he could study Ren like his books from the Academy. The Force users he’d read about only desired the annihilation of the Jedi, and had matching shallow personalities to boot. Figures Ren would be no different. Surely there can’t be another side to the one-dimensional character the menace on his ship parades around as.

Shaking his head to dispel such useless thoughts, Hux gets up to go to the bedroom, taking out his personal datapad and confirming his schedule for tomorrow. “Lights, fifty percent.” He takes two steps in before he looks up.

Speak of the Sith.

Ren is on his bed.

Ren is on his bed and Hux could’ve laughed at the karma if he wasn’t frozen by the utter stupidity of the scene before him. He’s not splayed out across the mattress (like Hux imagines the buffoon does) but in what Hux thinks is a meditative pose: cross-legged, almost perched on the long end of the bed. Having shed of most of the layers of his attire, Ren is left clad in a simple black undershirt.

Hux carefully paces around the bed to face Ren, and is subsequently given another jolt of surprise when he realizes that the mask is actually off, and what he previously thought was the mask from the side is actually thick, jet-black hair messily framing Ren’s face. In the crook formed by his crossed legs lies a sleeping Millicent.

Hux is sure his expression is a mixture of disgust and confusion, quickly being overtaken by a familiar infuriation. Squinting does not divine any answers.

New on-going task: create protocols for Ren-related incidents.

Hux takes in a deep breath. “What–”

“She was lonely.”

Hux blinks. “Excuse me?”

Ren opens his eyes. They’re round and brown, and make him look very innocent. “Your pet. She was very lonely. And bored.” He smirks. He does not look innocent. “So we kept each other company.”

Hux is prepared to process a lot of things. “My cat… was lonely.” This isn’t one of them.

“Yes.”

“So you broke into my quarters.”

“I _do_ have the authorization.”

“What is that?”

Hux points to a patch of fur on Millicent. Or rather, at a lack of fur, pale orange skin easily visible.

“What did you do to her?” Hux tries very hard to steady his voice. If Ren did something, to the only being he cares about…

“I didn’t do anything to her,” Ren snaps. The pouting is atrocious. “Her thoughts were loud and disruptive. She is not in any pain anymore.”

That’s rich, Hux thinks. “Millicent, come here,” Hux orders, soft but firm, intending to look her over himself.

At his command she stands in Ren’s lap, back arching under Ren’s chin. Her prim tail curls upwards to brush against Ren’s cheek as she peers drowsily at Hux, but makes no other move. She yawns.

“Unbelievable, Ren, you break everything.” Hux is livid, and a bit hysterical. This is unheard of. Millicent never disobeys orders. It’s all Ren’s fault. “Your proclivity to ruin everything has fouled my personal life and I’ve _had_ it–”

“It’s because she likes me,” Ren says with a raised eyebrow, as if it’s obvious. Why is he so _calm_?

“I trained her from birth to follow my orders, you idiot,” Hux snarls.

“Well, we’ve seen how good that turned out.”

“Enough,” Hux warns, low, dangerous. Maybe it’s the late night, or the absolute ridiculousness that is his bedroom, but that is it. That’s the last straw. Harassing his cat, insulting his intelligence _and_ his esteemed methods in the span of a record-breaking few minutes leaves Hux in a dizzying vortex of sheer astonishment and boiling fury the likes of which he hasn’t felt in a long time. Squeezing the bridge of his nose delicately Hux closes his eyes, consciously taking in a calming breath.

“Get out. Just… leave,” he sighs, unwilling to put up with another fight. Senses on high alert, he can feel a heavy gaze searing into a point on his nose, and Hux resolutely refuses to open his eyes until he hears the swishing of robes, the scrape of Ren’s dastardly helmet from his nightstand, and the hissing of the far door shut.

It feels like an eternity but Hux gradually comes out of his trance. The rigid stance he’s taken sends aches throbbing through his limbs as he deliberately relaxes each muscle, followed lastly by his fists.

A plaintive meow brings him back to reality, and he shakily bends down to inspect Millicent, ignoring the minor violation of her being on his bed. Sure enough, she doesn’t seem to be in any pain as she meows again and butts against his hand, oblivious to the General’s turbulent emotions. Absently petting, Hux catches a whiff of something coming off the bed: something pleasantly spicy yet sweet...

He stands stiffly and almost runs to the kitchen, measuring cat food into Millicent’s bowl with a little too much concentration. He snatches up a datapad, dead set in completing his work.

He falls asleep on his desk as far away from Ren as possible and vows to change his bedsheets in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is partially true. My cat is sorta trained. A good combination of snapping my fingers, pointing, and short, well-intoned commands gets my cat running over to me. 60% of the time it works every time. So Hux is justified in going crazy. At least that's what I tell myself when I can't sleep at night because this fic doesn't go well because it feels so OOC ;_; naah I'm playin no worries :D

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it! Leave a comment telling me where I should go next! Always love to hear neat ideas from you guys!


End file.
